The New Girls

These are the ewe lambs that are still here after selling everyone (almost) that I intend to. (And there were 81 lambs this year.) I'm very pleased with this group and proud that my breeding program has led to this selection.Meridian Janie (bide a wee Buster x Meridian Jane)Meridian Maybelle (bide a wee Buster x Meridian Mae) This ewe was going to be on my sale list but she had an unexpected tryst with Cayenne and may be pregnant.Meridian Ruthie (Meridian Cayenne x Meridian Ruth), who just broke her horn and is somewhat bloody on one side. This is another ewe who may be pregnant after the aforementioned incident.Meridian Zora (Meridian Cayenne x Meridian Betty)Zora is a pretty little lilac ewe who was chosen from Day 1 for her cute markings, although "cuteness" isn't listed under the JSBA Breed Standard selection criteria.Meridian Quartz (bide a wee Buster x Meridian Jade). Quartz was chosen because, besides being a nice looking ewe, her mom is everyone's favorite pet sheep and... ...I want to see how her 6 horns grow out.Meridian ??? I haven't named this lamb yet but she certainly deserved a good one. (Meridian Serrano x Unzicker Shenandoah)bide a wee Marion (Ruby Peak Cinnamon x Meridian Maven), who didn't go home to Oregon after the AGM we hosted in August.Meridian Janna (bide a wee Buster x Meridian Janis). Janna is a big tall ewe lamb and is out with the breeding group, possibly to be bred by Meridian Axle.Meridian Soprano (bide a wee Buster x Meridian Sonata) has definitely been bred by Axle. It looks as though I am missing photos of one ewe and that is Meridian Haldana, who is one of the lambs that went to the state fair. Everyone else is accounted for here.

Shortest Breeding Season

The last post was about breeding season that started for us on October 3. A week ago, only 24 days later, I called it quits (almost). I had five breeding groups and one non-breeding group. I get tired of feeding hay to all these different groups especially when there is still green feed in the pasture. But mostly I get tired of the rams tearing up the fences. Also, Hug a Sheep Day was the next day and two groups would cause trouble with that. The young ram, Clark was in the most accessible (to visitors) pen and I don't trust him if someone stands right at the fence. In addition I thought that we might need to park behind the barn and that's where Buster's group was. Time to be done with all these groups. I decided that Axle would get to remain with the ewes in case someone had not been bred and Peyton could keep his ewes for another few days. But that meant that Buster, Cayenne, Clark, and Spark (who had not been given ewes) would be back together. I brought the groups in one at a time and separated the rams. That's Buster in the pen. His nose is already bloody because he was ramming the panel to try to get to Axle, the young 2-horn ram in the middle of the photo.Most of the ewe flock was back together now and that was Clark's lucky day! That's him in the background with his head turned away.Meanwhile the other four rams went into their "buddy-up" pen. The point of this is that they are confined enough that they can't do much damage. That doesn't mean that they don't hit each other but at least they can't back up 10 feet and come charging.After a few days of learning to be buddies again they went back to the ram pen with minimal fuss. They all had figured out the pecking order. Cayenne (above) is #2.Cayenne. I love a nice two horn head.This is Spark, Cayenne's full brother, born this year. There is the difference a year makes. Cayenne was born last year.Brothers.Bide a wee Buster is #1 in the ram pen.Buster is 3 years old and Clark is his son from this year. Bookends?Here's the lucky ram who gets to stay out with the ewes for another few weeks. This is Axle, also a 2018 ram. He is wearing a blue marker......and I finally saw some real color. This is ewe lamb, Soprano.Today I moved most of Peyton's ewes back to the flock. Three of them were the Pope Valley sheep that came this summer, and they immediately found their two friends. That's the five or them in the front. Large Triangle, 4-Horn, Small Triangle, White Ear, and Crooked Blaze in the back. (They do have names but I remember them better by what I called them at first.)

Summer Shearing - Part 2

Shearing Day  for the 12 sheep Dona and I acquired was last Thursday. Here is another blog post with photos from that day.

Sorry. I'm not saying much about these photos. It's been a long hot day and I am falling asleep a the computer.  They really don't need an explanation.!

Summer Shearing

I've written two blog posts about acquiring 12 Jacob sheep in what became something of a rescue operation. The sheep were healthy and well-fed, but had not been shorn for three years we think. This was shearing day for these sheep. The photos in this blog post were all taken by Farm Club members, Dona and Gynna. Thanks!!

                 John is the Rock Star.

                                                 We checked teeth to try and figure out the ages of the sheep.                   This sheep had a 13 pound fleece. The average for Jacob sheep is 3-6 pounds.                   It was a multi-person operation to stuff some of these fleeces into plastic bags.              The usual suspects were there to watch and cheer John on.                            Not a bad looking group of ewes after shearing.                            The two rams.                       After shearing we looked at all the fleeces. The longer fleeces have a break about 4" in from the outside, but the rest of the fleece seems sound.                                                                  It will take some time to work through it all.

                                                                As we pulled out staples from some of the fleeces I thought it would be a good idea to get a photo. Susan and Gynna worked on this while we opened up and re-rolled the fleeces.                       Note the measurements marked on the sides and down the middles. Weights are below.                                                   This was a fun day for all of us and a good day for these sheep.

Sheep Adventure Follow-up

Monday's  Sheep Adventure started because someone had asked for help in selling Jacob sheep that his parents couldn't take care of. I didn't consider it a rescue operation although I didn't know this person and I don't need anymore sheep, at least sheep of unknown background, and I didn't really have a plan for what to do with them other than try to sell them. When he called again last week things were a bit more desperate because his mom was in the hospital and the family had no clue of what to do with the sheep...other than to get someone else to deal with them. That's when I said I'd get them. Dona and Rick were up for the adventure but we didn't know what to expect. What we found: Sheep that really are Jacob sheep--there are a lot out there that people think are Jacob because of horns or spots, but they are not; Sheep in relatively good health EXCEPT for in desperate need of shearing. So the Sheep Adventure turned into a Sheep Rescue of sorts.

Yesterday I took time to look at each sheep more closely. Now that I'm spending time with them, the group is kind of growing on me. "I don't need more sheep. I don't need more sheep. I don't need more sheep...."                  This is a ewe they called Athena.                                                      I think that this is at least a 3-year fleece.                   I love the markings on this ewe's body. I don't have any information about her.                 This is a ewe they called Caliope. She is pretty wild.

A ewe called Dimitria. The wool is very pretty, but its as long as my elbow to my thumb.

                Markela, one of the original ewes purchased by this family.                    No idea about this ewe...                 ...or this one. Don't you love her horns?              Paniota...

            ...and her fleece.                 The lamb named Easter because that is when she was born.                New temporary quarters.            Stay tuned for a Shearing Day post.              Let's not forget the rams. Tikes on the left and Costa on the right. I think they are yearlings.